While embarassed by how long it took to get this through, I'm glad to see that it has finally arrived... and not a moment too soon!

Excerpt:
Northwest Airlines today announced the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has tentatively approved its application for six-way antitrust immunity with its SkyTeam alliance partners: Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Alitalia, and CSA Czech Airlines. Final approval is expected to follow after the DOT reviews the final round of comments to its "show cause" order.

[Edited 2008-04-09 15:35:01]

Hail! to the victors valiant, Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes, Hail! Hail! to Michigan the leaders and best! Go Blue!

Quoting BOStonsox (Reply 1):I guess I have to update the map to include CZA, and change EWR and IAH to current Skyteam hubs since the map was made with the assumption that UA and CO merged and joined *A.

Quoting BOStonsox (Reply 1):I know it looks like spaghetti but I did the best I could.

Actually, I'm about to cook up some spaghetti... this only whets my appetite.

But seriously, I regret that CO isn't in on this. They would be a fine addition. In any case, I can only hope that the party starts swiftly. With this, their carriers can streamline operations without completely alienating their workers. ATIs being confidential, it think it's unlikely that ST was able to copy much from *A. Perhaps in due time we'll see who made the better arrangement...

ST's framework seems more expansive, for sure.

Hail! to the victors valiant, Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes, Hail! Hail! to Michigan the leaders and best! Go Blue!

Quoting DL Widget Head (Reply 9):Now that LHR has been opened up, I'm sure ATI will be granted to AA/BA when they apply.

Not necessarily, due to BA holding more than 40% of LHR's slots which, when combined with LHR operating at close to 100% of capacity, makes it very difficult for other carriers to add LHR flights. If they were to approve ATI for BA/AA (and I'm not sure either carrier necessarily still wants it) I expect they would condition it on BA giving up some LHR slots which I doubt BA would consider a fair tradoff. With BA's dominant capacity on LHR-US routes their current code-sharing agreement with AA probably gives them most of what they need for connections to offline US points.

Quoting MAH4546 (Reply 7):As long as this means AA/BA will finally be granted the ATI they deserve

I was recently told by some who participated in formulating that proposal that some of the confidential stipulations weren't agreeable to DOT. All that I could get out was that revenue sharing was simply not to be granted. Further, someone has already pointed out the slots.

Finally...now we'll see much better coordination (and rationalization) of schedules, code shares and the like. SkyTeam has been in a difficult position against Star Alliance, that has had a similar type of immunity for some time.

This will make things much more competitive for SkyTeam...and at the end of the day, that's a good thing for us travellers.

DL already has ATI w/ KE. There is no reason for the US gov't to be involved in relationships between Euro carriers and KE so only NW has the potential to be added. For now, NW is probably not interested in ATI w/ KE given the duplication in routes.

Quoting BAW716 (Reply 15):SkyTeam has been in a difficult position against Star Alliance, that has had a similar type of immunity for some time.

no.... Skyteam has the first multi-US carrier ATI in the industry. Star has no advantage over ST. US does not have ATI with any Star partners.

Also, DL has a far more extensive transatlantic route system than what all of the Star carriers have in terms of routes flown and cities served.

What is significant about the DOT's ruling is that it makes it much easier for DL and NW to merge in the future because their commercial relationships have already been reviewed as being non-competitive. The only thing that would change with a DL/NW merger is that some of the requirements about DL and NW not being able to talk to each other (and they are certainly in there) will be removed.

Quoting BAW716 (Reply 15):SkyTeam has been in a difficult position against Star Alliance, that has had a similar type of immunity for some time.

How exactly do you come to that conclusion, considering that DL/AF/AZ/OK have had ATI for more than a half-decade, and NW/KL have had it nearly three times as long. All this is, is essentially folding the two into each other, and that's something Star has yet to match. So in essence, you have it backwards.

Quoting WorldTraveler (Reply 16):What is significant about the DOT's ruling is that it makes it much easier for DL and NW to merge in the future because their commercial relationships have already been reviewed as being non-competitive.

Not true, they have only reviewed a specific part of their route structure...trans-atlantic specifically. Their domestic route structure and Transpacific are two totally seperate items that would need to be scrutinized.

Always wonderers if this "last and final boarding call" is in fact THE last and final boarding call.

Quoting BOStonsox (Reply 19):
What do you mean by "invent?" I believe they were the first two airlines to codeshare and work together on international flights, but neither one is a founding member of Skyteam.

Codesharing and international cooperation sounds to me like inventing the alliance. They were doing it long before Skyteam. Remember Worldwide Service/Worldwide Reliability? (BTW, I sort of miss that logo.)